If you were to hear the title Larceny, Inc., you likely wouldn’t immediately cop it as a Christmas movie. And yet, this crime comedy’s seasonal appropriateness is immediately evident from the name of its source material: The Night Before Christmas, a short-lived Broadway play penned by Laura and S.J. Perelman.
Edward G. Robinson stars in Larceny, Inc. as crook J. Chalmers “Pressure” Maxwell. Just days before he is to be released from a stint in Sing Sing along with his dim accomplice Jug (Broderick Crawford, on loan from Universal), he is approached during a prison baseball game by Leo Dexter (a suitably grumpy Anthony Quinn) about partnering with him on a bank heist he’d like to pull off. But Pressure declines; he plans to go straight when he gets out, to become a legitimate business owner and make Denny (Jane Wyman)— the daughter of an old cohort who he cares for as his own— proud.
But the American financial system isn’t kind to even the most well-meaning individuals, and Pressure’s hopes are quickly trodden when the bank declines his request for a loan. “This whole thing doesn’t add up,” Pressure observes. “The only people who can borrow money are the people who have money.” So Pressure diverges from the straight and narrow path and decides to rob the bank instead. His scheme is convoluted, but it works for a while at least: he fixes an accident so he can claim insurance and uses that money to convince the owner of a struggling luggage store (Harry Davenport) located right next door to the bank to sell his business to him, then sets Jug and their third gang member Weepy (Edward Brophy) to work digging a tunnel underground from the store into the bank. But in maintaining the luggage shop as a cover while he conducts his shady dealings, Pressure— with some assistance from over-zealous salesman Jeff Randolph (Jack Carson)— inadvertently transforms the store into a thriving, legitimate business, reinvigorating the whole neighborhood and establishing himself as a local saint. This collision of interests all comes to a head on Christmas Eve when Leo— still in prison— gets wind of Pressure highjacking his scheme and sets out to take a piece of what he believes is his.
Larceny, Inc. boasts quite the festive finale, with Pressure saving the day while clad in his Santa Claus attire. But the entire film preceding the climax is such a delight, with the studio, Warner Brothers, successfully poking fun at the gritty mob dramas that became their calling card around the dawn of talkies— and whose violence and frequent glorification of the gangster lifestyle never would have flown with the censors in this era where the Production Code was being strictly enforced. It likely helped that one of Warners’ most reliable directors in their stable of filmmakers who helped cement their signature, Lloyd Bacon— whose name never lived on the way some of his peers did but who helmed some great pre-codes, including an iconic pair of musicals, 42nd Street and Footlight Parade—was the guiding hand behind Larceny, Inc. This was the third entry in what you could consider a loose trilogy of crime comedies Bacon made with star Robinson (the previous two being 1938’s A Slight Case of Murder and 1940’s Brother Orchid) whose playfulness with genre extended to their leading man. As Pressure, Robinson subverts the hard-edged criminal persona that made him famous back in 1931 with Little Caesar, and he’s such a versatile actor that he pulls it off. Sure, Pressure exhibits a lovable side, particularly when he’s with Denny, that makes it a little hard to believe that he was ever a serious criminal, but that tough guy character manifests himself in the scenes where Pressure is thwarted by his attempts to pull of the bank job in a way that is amusing without ever compromising his integrity. It helps too that the deep supporting cast is so colorful, boasting a lot of great talent at the start of their careers, including Quinn, Wyman, Carson, and Jackie Gleason, who is a lot of fun as the soda jerk at the local drug store. Larceny, Inc. may not sound like a Christmas movie, but its light tone and mirthful finale confirm that it deserves to be a new off-beat holiday staple.
Larceny, Inc. is unfortunately a little difficult to watch on demand— it isn’t streaming anywhere or available to rent digitally— but Turner Classic Movies airs it every so often, especially during December, and there is a DVD available for purchase from the Warner Archive. Runtime: 95 minutes.
Katie at the Movies 